1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organically clean biomass fuel from a mixture of finely ground wood chips, bark, sawdust, wood charcoal powder or other any other cellulosic products that are dried and then moisturized by vegetable oil and/or vegetable alcohol. The organically clean biomass fuel is clean burning and non-toxic.
2. Description of Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,472 (the '472 patent) reveals the preparation of a chemically dried cellulosic fuel. Wood chips, bark, sawdust or other cellulosic products are dried and impregnated with vegetable oil to provide a clean burning, non-toxic fuel for lighting or starting charcoal. To achieve this, the cellulosic products are ground between ¼ and 2 inches in diameter and immersed in hot oil at between 325° F. and 375° F. (163° C.–191° C.). Moisture within the cellulosic products evaporates and replaced by the hot oil. Contaminants in the hot oil may be released upon heating.
There are over 350 species of oleaginous, or oil-producing plants and thousands of sub-species. Two types of oil presses are used in both small and large scale vegetable oil processing. The most common type of oil press is the screw press. This press uses a large scale diameter screw inside a metal housing. The oil seed is fed into the top of the press and falls into the churning screw. As the seed is churned into a mash by turning threads of the screw, the oil is squeezed from the meal, or cake. The protein cake from the oilseed oozes from the side of the press and the vegetable oil dribbles from the bottom of the press.
Screw presses are available in sizes ranging from table-top models that produce 8 kilograms of seed per hour (2 liters of oil) to industrial models which can produce 4,000 kilograms of oil per day. Screw presses are available in electrical and Diesel powered models. Screw presses tend to be slow. A ram press is more efficient oil press design. This press uses a hydraulic piston inside of a cylinder to crush the oilseed. Ram presses can be powered by hand, by an electric motor, or by a Diesel engine.
After a vegetable oil is pressed, it is left to settle for a few days in horizontal settling tank. The vegetable gums and pieces of meal cake settle to the bottom of the tank. If it is to be used as a fuel, it should be pumped through a series of filters. Usually it is a four stage process, starting with 150 micron mash, then 70, then 25 and lastly a 10 micron fuel filter.
An ester is a hydrocarbon chain that will bond with another molecule. A vegetable oil molecule is made of three esters attached to a molecule of glycerin. Vegetable oil is called a triglyceride. Vegetable oil is also called glycerol esters. About 20% of a vegetable oil molecule is glycerin. Glycerin is also called glycerine, glycerol, and glyceride. Glycerin makes vegetable oil thick and sticky. To transform vegetable oil into fuel, vegetable oil must go through the process of transesterification. Transesterefication is the transformation of one type ester into another type of ester. The esters in vegetable oil are separated from the glycerin, the glycerin is replaced with alcohol. Either ethanol alcohol or methanol alcohol can be used. Ethanol is alcohol made from grain. Methanol is an alcohol that can be made from wood or coal. Methanol produces more stable biodiesel reactions. However, methanol is an aggressive alcohol which dissolves rubber, can be fatal is swallowed, and requires extreme caution when handled.
The cloud point is point at which vegetable oil appears cloudy because wax crystals form in the vegetable oil—60–25 F. (16 and −4 C.). The pour point—the oil ceased to move through pipes and tubes ˜−10 F. The gel point—oil will become the consistency of petroleum jelly ˜−20 F. To overcome these obstacles, winterizing agents, anti-gel formula and flow-improver additive can be used. The flash point (ignition temperature) is above 300 F. The energy capacity is approximately 30 megajoules of energy per kilogram of the vegetable oil.
Emission Characteristics of vegetable oil as a fuel source as compared to regular fuel oil include the following:
Produces no sulfur dioxide (SO2)
No net carbon dioxide (CO2). “Net” in the sense that for each kilogram of fuel burned, up to three kilograms of carbon dioxide are consumed by the plants.                Less soot by 50%        Less carbon monoxide (CO) by 50%        Less hydrocarbon (HC) by 40%        Less polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), specifically:                    Phenanthren by 97%            Benzofloroanthen by 56%            Benzaperyren by 71%            Aldehydes by 15%                        
For purposes of this application, the phrase “vegetable alcohol” will refer to ethanol alcohol, methanol alcohol, a combination of each, or other forms of alcohol derived from vegetable oil after undergoing transesterification.
The inventor has a patent application pending on the manufacture and composition of wood charcoal, namely, U.S. Ser. No. 058,677, publication no. 20020148716 entitled Portable Kiln for Making Charcoal from Forestry Wood Waste. The contents of that patent application are incorporated by reference.
The inventor has found that a moisture laden cellulosic product may be ground only to a certain size in a conventional grinder. This is because the moisture causes the cellulosic product to become sticky and thus cling to the surfaces of the grinder. Such may explain why the '472 patent only proposes grinding at the lower range to ¼ inch diameter.
Granular cellulose powder is available commercially and used in the plastic, welding electrode, rubber and filter industries as commercialized by Micro-Technik GmbH & Co. KG. It offers granular cellulose powder, such as those with the following characteristics:
Analysis:from . . . toMethodGrade-402-100Cellulose content (atro)min. 99%Statement by producer□-content88–90%Statement by producerWater content<6%4 h drying at 105° C.DP600–1400Cuoxam method byStaudingerpH Value in a 5% slurry5–7.5PotentiometricallyAsh content0.1–0.2%Glow in a platinumcrucibleBulk density150–180 g/lFilling up a 0.5 lgraduated cylinderFiber lengthmax. 100 μmBy mikroscopeFiber diameterca. 20 μmBy mikroscopeGrade: 402-2b:Water content<6%4 h drying at 105° C.□-Content88–90%Statement by producerpH Value in a 5% slurry5–7.5PotentiometricallyAsh contentmax. 0.5%Glow in a platinumcrucibleBulk density180–300 g/lFilling up a 0.5 lgraduated cylinderWater Content<6%4 h drying at 105° C.DP600–1400Cuoxam method byStaudingerpH Value in a 5% slurry4.9–5.3PotentiometricallyAsh Content0.1–0.2%Glow in a platinumcrucibleResin Content0.2–0.4%Extraction withisopropanolBulk Density>100 g/lFilling up a 0.5 lgraduated cylinderAcid Extract0.5–0.8%With 0.01 n HCl atroom temperatureMax. Fiber Lengthmax. 200 μmBy microscopeFiber Diameterabout 20 μmBy microscopeSpecific Surface3500–6000 cm2/gMulti-Point BETGrade 402-1000:Water Content<6%4 h drying at 105° C.□-Content88–90%According to producerDP600–1400Cuoxam method byStaudingerpH Value in a 5% slurry4.9–5.3PotentiometricallyAsh Content0.1–0.2%Glow in a platinumcrucibleResin Content0.2–0.4%Extraction withisopropanolBulk Density80–100 g/lFilling up a 0.5 lgraduated cylinderAcid Extract0.5–0.8%With 0.01 n HCl at roomtemperatureSieve Analysis:>40 μmmax. 60%Alpine air jet sieve,>100 μmmax. 25%10 min/sieve>300 μmmax. 1%>600 μm0%Average fibre length100–300 μmGrade 402-1400Water Content<6%4 h drying at 105° C.□-Content88–90%According to producerDP600–1400Cuoxam method byStaudingerpH Value in a 5% slurry4.9–5.3PotentiometricallyAsh Content0.1–0.2%Glow in a platinumcrucibleResin Content0.2–0.4%Extraction withisopropanolBulk Density50–80 g/lFilling up a 0.5 lgraduated cylinderAcid Extract0.5–0.8%With 0.01 n HCl at roomtemperatureSieve Analysis:>100 μmmax. 50%Alpine air jet sieve,>200 μmmax. 10%10 min/sieve>400 μmmax. 1%>800 μm0%Average fibre length200–500 μm
It would therefore be desirable to provide a fuel from cellulosic products and/or wood charcoal that was in the form of powder moisturized by vegetable oil and/or vegetable alcohol. Preferably, the cellulosic products each have a diameter significantly smaller than 1/256 inch, e.g., on the microscopic size of a powder such as that of flour grains. For the purpose of this application, “cellulosic powder” are those which have an average fiber length of about 500 micrometers or less A fiber length within the range of 20-500 micrometers is suitable.